PEOPLE power won the prize for campaigners who scooped nearly £60,000 Lottery funding for a Coventry park.

There were jubilant celebrations at Stoke Green park where an anxious crowd of residents, parents and children learned they won their £56,000 bid for much-needed play equipment on the green, off Binley Road.

The campaign was sparked by David Spencer, Gosford Park Residents’ Association chairman, when his four-year-old grandson Austin cried out: “This isn’t a playground, it’s got no swings” when taken to the park to play.

Austin already has many ideas for the revamped area, as he said after the announcement was made: “This is good.

"I can think of 100 things to put in. I can’t wait to come here and play.”

The news marked the end of a lengthy campaign, spearheaded by the residents’ association, which saw thousands of leaflets appealing for votes posted through doors and a house-to-house campaign launched.

The association had submitted an application for funding to the Lottery, which shortlisted the project as a finalist for The Jubilee People’s Millions scheme.

Although it failed to secure the most votes when phone lines opened to the public on Wednesday, initial disappointment was surpassed by the news the scheme attracted enough votes to win the sum they requested.

David Spencer said: “This is a tremendous achievement for the local community and will make a huge difference to the local area.

“We had an anxious wait for the result. For now, it’s a relief.”

UK board member of The Big Lottery Fund, Rajay Naik, who lives near to Stoke Green, helped to shortlist the project for the final and says it deserved the five-figure donation.

"There were about 200 applications from the West Midlands,” he said, “and it’s phenomenal to see the happiness the news has brought to local residents not far from where I live.

“What made the application stand out was its strong sense of community and wanting to make a difference in the local area.

“A strong argument had also been made about the health and economic benefits it would bring.”

Pupils at nearby Pattison College were among those celebrating the fabulous outcome.

Pattison principal Elizabeth McConnell said: “This is a great example of people power and it’s amazing to think that a residents’ association of about 45 people can produce a result like this.”

Pattison pupil Amaryn Sangha, a nine-year-old in Year Four, said: “This will be good for the children because they can play and it will be good for parents because they can come here too to meet other people.”